flitcroft

This is random, but for those that have caller ID, is there a way to turn off the ringer when you don't want a telemarketing call or whatever? On my cell phone I can hang up, send the call to voice mail, or silence the ringer. Can you do that with cordless home phones?

flitcroft

ttt

oatnet

I guess I don't see any connection between the ringer and Caller ID... Does your caller ID have a ringer on it?

-JD

CBeyond

With SBC, you can have your home phone service set to refuse calls from callers who conceal their number through caller ID. That would eliminate some of the calls! If your friends have their number concealed, you just tell them to enter *82 before dailing your number.

oatnet

Telemarketers aren't allowed to block their callback number. Not saying they don't do it, but they are breaking the law when they do.

-JD

flitcroft

Maybe I should rephrase my question. The problem isn't with caller ID, per se, it's that when I know the call is a telemarketer I am forced to listen to my loud, annoying ringer go off four times before the answer machine kicks in and the telemarketer hangs up. What I was looking for is a way to silence the ringer on the phone if I don't want to listen to it blaring in my ear.

When the site was down I just started answering and immediately hanging up on those calls.

FYI: I'm on all the do-not-call lists but these calls are, stupidly, 100% legal. I've asked to be removed from the companies' lists but it takes 30 ing days.

CBeyond

I have the same problem. Let me know if you find anything.

Actually it would be cool if the phone was smart enough that you could have it "remember" numbers that you don't want to hear from. Sort of like spam filtering. You gradually build up a database in the phone of numbers that should not cause the phone to ring. That's probably way too sophisticated for the average cordless phone buyer.

flitcroft

OMG, that's an awesome idea! The two lame ass companies calling me 20 times a day always use the same outgoing number. I really could use that feature. That's exactly what I was doing manually when I started hitting talk twice really quickly to just hang up on the bastards and not have to listen to the shrill ring all day.

Anyone know of a phone or service that does that?

oatnet

Still not clear...

Yes, most phones have an "off" setting for the ringer. It will be different on each phone. Check the manual!

If you are looking for caller ID to discern between freind or foe, I imagine there are some that do that. Again, check the manual as it will vary by phone.

I believe there is also a service from the phone company that will only accept calls from numbers that you approve in advance - if you can restrict it to such a list (I can't!) then you are in luck.

If you are looking for something that detects telemarketers exclusively, it doesn't exist. Their calls don't look any different from other calls.

I do remember a device that allowed you to press its button on a call, it would pickup, say "We don't want your calls" and hangup - but you still have to press the button. It was called a tele-blocker or something.

-JD

flitcroft

All I want, in the end, is a mute for the ringer on a cordless phone, just like the one on my cell phone. Cbeyond got it right away. If you're all of a sudden bombarded with literally 20 telemarketing calls in day, meaning 80 shrill rings from your phone, you'd get it in two seconds flat. I work from home so these calls of all sudden seriously afffected my day. I can't turn off my ringer -- not an option for the office. Oh well, the calls have stopped for now.